Entrepreneurship Through the Lens of Venture Capital: Strategy

The odds are against entrepreneurship. The likelihood of a company becoming the next multi billion-dollar startup is less than 1 in 10,000. Gary Morganthaler, the past director at Siri and a current partner at Morganthaler Ventures, argues that this is why innovation is becoming increasingly important.

“You’ve got to start with a disruption, or nothing else matters,” Morganthaler says.

Disruption, in this case, means taking something that is widely believed to be true or necessary, and introducing a new concept that could change that shared belief for the better.

The first question to ask when thinking about disruption is whether or not the new idea will truly be able to make a difference. Once this has been decided (and the answer is yes), the next step it to harness that energy and focus on the one area that will make the product unique.

Morganthaler says adopting an “overwhelming force” attitude in this focusing part of entrepreneurship is what will help in creating a successful startup.

Often times, disruptions start small and may look like risks to outsiders. However, some investors understand this so well that recognizing the disruptive nature of a startup or product will come naturally to them. Morganthaler says these are the best investors to have, because to them, disruption seems normal and necessary.

For more steps in figuring out the next big disruption, check out the video below: